I’m sure this is going to hit home for a few of you. We’re all technologists, or at the very least, users of technology. Being a millennial, I love leveraging new systems, methods of communication, and advanced technologies designed to make life easier.
However, I also remember that there was a time when we could simply “disconnect.” I remember it was easy for one simple reason – there was nothing to connect to.
Our world is increasingly becoming connected and digital. The latest Cisco Visual Networking Index indicates some interesting trends going into 2021:

Annual global IP traffic will reach 3.3 ZB by 2021. In 2016, global IP traffic was 1.2 ZB per year or 96 EB (one billion Gigabytes) per month.
Global IP traffic will increase nearly threefold over the next 5 years, and will have increased 127-fold from 2005 to 2021.
Busy-hour internet traffic is growing more rapidly than average internet traffic. Busy-hour (or the busiest 60-minute period in a day) internet traffic increased 51 percent in 2016, compared with 32-percent growth in average traffic.
Smartphone traffic will exceed PC traffic by 2021. In 2016, PCs accounted for 46 percent of total IP traffic, but by 2021 PCs will account for only 25 percent of traffic. Smartphones will account for 33 percent of total IP traffic in 2021, up from 13 percent in 2016.

By 2021, traffic from wireless and mobile devices will account for more than 63 percent of total IP traffic.
A study done by We Are Social found:

I was deep in thought, working on an advanced customer cloud scenario and discussing the topic with one of my architects on our unified communications tool, Jabber. At the same time, a fellow analyst replied to a question of mine on Google Hangouts. A few minutes later, a friend of mine dropped me a note for our weekend plans on Facebook Messenger.
I didn’t give this too much thought until I was talking to a friend of mine who has siblings all over the country. What did she use to communicate? A relatively newer tool called Google Allo. At just over a year old, Allo is yet another platform that people use every day to communicate, chat, share content, and connect with others.
Why are there so many different types of communication platforms? Why haven’t we invented a ‘Babel Fish’ communications platform that can unify our digital world together?
The answer might not be that simple.
If you were a kid or young adult of the 90s you’ll remember AIM, which was recently discontinued. AIM was more than just a communication tool. It was a part of our culture, featured in movies, songs, TV shows, and other places. Back when there weren’t so many chatting tools AIM was king of the hill. But that changed very quickly.
The World Is More Social
The new Digital in 2017 Global Overview report from We Are Social and Hootsuite reveals that that more than half of the world’s population now uses the internet. This year’s Global Digital report found that social media use

Apple has made changes to revised app store guidelines that threatened to block a wide range of small business apps created with templates, DIY tools, and SMB app platforms.
The guidelines were originally revised earlier this year to ensure a minimum standard of quality and uniqueness for apps accepted to the App Store, and to make sure that they are not simply “wrapped” websites or social media pages. The revisions were also intended to limit spam in the App Store. A number of developers and app-creation companies catering to SMBs and non-profit organizations that had thought they would be unaffected by the changes, however, were recently informed that their apps would be banned as of January 1.
App store review guideline 4.2.6 previously said: “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.”
The rule has now been amended to read: “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences. Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant,

Japanese web hosting company GMO Internet is offering to pay part of its employees’ salaries in bitcoin, in part to improve understanding of the cryptocurrency within company ranks, the Guardian reports.
GMO Internet launched a bitcoin exchange and trading business in May, and plans to begin mining the cryptocurrency in January. It is also planning an initial coin offering (ICO) for its own GMO coin, according to Futurism, redeemable for cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency mining gear, or shares in a cloud mining business.
See also: The Risks and Rewards of Accepting Bitcoin Payments for E-Commerce
Starting in February, GMO Internet employees will have the option of receiving 10,000 to 100,000 yen (roughly $88 to $890) of their salaries in bitcoin. The option will be available to some employees to start, and eventually roll out to the company’s workforce of more than 4,000 people.
Bitcoin’s volatility makes it risky to accept or offer payment in, as it has fluctuated between less than $1,000 and more than $18,000 during 2017. GMO Internet is offering a 10 percent bonus to employees who accept the offer of pay in Bitcoin, which could help make that volatility less intimidating for workers.
Acceptance of bitcoin by businesses is considered critical to the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects, but unlikely, by some analysts.

As the new year approaches, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come when it comes to cloud computing. Moving forward, cloud as we know it isn’t only on a path of transformation; it’s also a path for transformation. IDC predicts that by 2020, public IT cloud services will account for 58 percent of the $355 billion combined spending on traditional plus public cloud applications, development and deployment tools, infrastructure software, storage, and servers.
However, the future won’t be dominated by public cloud services. In fact, the dominant cloud model for the foreseeable future will revolve around hybrid cloud systems. Gartner analysts said that by 2020, cloud, hosting and traditional infrastructure services will come in more or less at par in terms of spending.
“As the demand for agility and flexibility grows, organizations will shift toward more industrialized, less-tailored options,” said DD Mishra, research director at Gartner. “Organizations that adopt hybrid infrastructure will optimize costs and increase efficiency. However, it increases the complexity of selecting the right toolset to deliver end-to-end services in a multi-sourced environment.”
Gartner predicts that by 2020, 90 percent of organizations will adopt hybrid infrastructure management capabilities. “This means that by 2020 traditional services will coexist with a minority share alongside the industrialized and digitalized services,” Mishra said.
Let’s look out to

As the new year approaches, it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come when it comes to cloud computing. Moving forward, cloud as we know it isn’t only on a path of transformation; it’s also a path for transformation. IDC predicts that by 2020, public IT cloud services will account for 58 percent of the $355 billion combined spending on traditional plus public cloud applications, development and deployment tools, infrastructure software, storage, and servers.
However, the future won’t be dominated by public cloud services. In fact, the dominant cloud model for the foreseeable future will revolve around hybrid cloud systems. Gartner analysts said that by 2020, cloud, hosting and traditional infrastructure services will come in more or less at par in terms of spending.
“As the demand for agility and flexibility grows, organizations will shift toward more industrialized, less-tailored options,” said DD Mishra, research director at Gartner. “Organizations that adopt hybrid infrastructure will optimize costs and increase efficiency. However, it increases the complexity of selecting the right toolset to deliver end-to-end services in a multi-sourced environment.”
Gartner predicts that by 2020, 90 percent of organizations will adopt hybrid infrastructure management capabilities. “This means that by 2020 traditional services will coexist with a minority share alongside the industrialized and digitalized services,” Mishra said.
Let’s look out to

LeaseWeb USA will expand into H5 Data Centers Phoenix location under a wholesale data center agreement announced Tuesday.
The data center, which H5 will continue to own and operate, offers private data center suites for 125-kilowatt and 250-kilowatt installations.
“The expansion and partnership with LeaseWeb is a win-win,” Josh Simms CEO of H5 Data Centers said in a statement. “LeaseWeb can offer enterprises a full suite of retail colocation and hybrid IT cloud solutions, while H5 Data Centers can continue to innovate and deliver world-class wholesale data center solutions. We look forward to working with this globally-renown IT services partner.”
The deal will facilitate LeaseWeb’s U.S. growth and expand the portfolio of products available to H5′s Phoenix customers, according to the announcement.
“LeaseWeb USA and H5 Data Centers come together with this Phoenix transaction at a similar scale in the U.S. with a shared focus on delivering excellent service and hybrid cloud technology located as close to our customers as possible,” said Lex Boost, CEO of LeaseWeb USA. “We see great joint opportunities in the Phoenix market, with the potential for an expanded partnership to come across our national footprints.”
LeaseWeb also recently announced the opening new data center facilities in London and Sydney to offer cloud services to the UK and Australian markets.
H5 expanded its Seattle data center capacity earlier this year.

(Bloomberg) -Docker Inc. helped establish a type of software tool known as containers. Thanks to the startup, containers have become an essential part of many companies’ app development process, and they’ve made the company rich. Venture capitalists have poured about $240 million into the startup, according to research firm CB Insights.
Then along came Google, with its own free container system called Kubernetes. Google has successfully inserted Kubernetes into the coder toolbox. While Docker and Kubernetes serve slightly different purposes, customers who choose Google’s tool can avoid paying Docker. The startup gives away its most popular product while trying to convince developers to pay for extras, notably a program that does the same thing as Google’s.
“Kubernetes basically has ruled the industry, and it is the de facto standard,” said Gary Chen, an analyst at IDC. “Docker has to figure out how do they differentiate themselves.”
It’s up to Steve Singh to escape a situation that’s trapped many startups battling cash-rich tech giants like Google, dangling free alternatives. Singh was appointed chief executive officer of Docker in May. His focus is on convincing customers to buy a collection of software to set up and manage their containers. And he needs to persuade them that his startup can offer things Alphabet Inc.’s Google can’t. ”Google’s business around Kubernetes is around Google Cloud,” Singh said. “There’s a

(Bloomberg) -Docker Inc. helped establish a type of software tool known as containers. Thanks to the startup, containers have become an essential part of many companies’ app development process, and they’ve made the company rich. Venture capitalists have poured about $240 million into the startup, according to research firm CB Insights.
Then along came Google, with its own free container system called Kubernetes. Google has successfully inserted Kubernetes into the coder toolbox. While Docker and Kubernetes serve slightly different purposes, customers who choose Google’s tool can avoid paying Docker. The startup gives away its most popular product while trying to convince developers to pay for extras, notably a program that does the same thing as Google’s.
“Kubernetes basically has ruled the industry, and it is the de facto standard,” said Gary Chen, an analyst at IDC. “Docker has to figure out how do they differentiate themselves.”
It’s up to Steve Singh to escape a situation that’s trapped many startups battling cash-rich tech giants like Google, dangling free alternatives. Singh was appointed chief executive officer of Docker in May. His focus is on convincing customers to buy a collection of software to set up and manage their containers. And he needs to persuade them that his startup can offer things Alphabet Inc.’s Google can’t. ”Google’s business around Kubernetes is around Google Cloud,” Singh said. “There’s a

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. blamed North Korea for the WannaCry ransomware attack that affected hundreds of thousands of computers globally this year, offering further justification for the White House’s campaign to step up international pressure on the regime.

“After careful investigation, the United States is publicly attributing the massive WannaCry cyberattack to North Korea,” White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters Tuesday. “We do not make this allegation lightly. We do so with evidence, and we do so with partners.”
WannaCry crippled parts of the U.K.’s state-run National Health Service and compromised companies such as FedEx Corp. and Nissan Motor Co.
After WannaCry began infecting computers powered by Microsoft Corp.’s Windows via the internet on May 12, users had 72 hours to pay $300 in bitcoin, or pay twice as much. Paying didn’t unlock their computers, Bossert wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that was published Monday.
“It was cowardly, costly and careless,” he wrote. “The attack was widespread and cost billions, and North Korea is directly responsible.”
While calling the public attribution an initial step in holding North Korea accountable, Bossert said President Donald Trump had already exhausted many of the tools available for punishing the regime in Pyongyang as he seeks to halt its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
“North Korea has done everything wrong as an actor on the global stage that